“You’re doinghomework, Nat. What, exactly, am I interrupting?”
“Not anymore. I’m done.” She slammed her textbook shut, tossing him a glare. “And we’re going to paint our nails now, and I know how much you hate the smell.”
“Oh, God, fine.” Sully surrendered, carefully sliding around me and off the bed. “I’ll be in my room with R2-D2.”
Natalie lifted a brow. “Did you buy a new robot companion?”
“No.” Sully’s smirk did things to my insides. “I’mbuildingone. Out of LEGO.”
“Do you still want me to give you a haircut today?” I asked, and he paused in the doorway.
“That’d be great, otherwise Mom is going to drag me to the salon she goes to. And they don’t cut it like you do, El. But it can wait until you’re done with your nails.”
“God, you two are disgusting,” Natalie moaned, but Sully simply shot me a wink before he disappeared.
He knew he’d see me later.
Sleepovers with Natalie were my favorite because she always crashed early, and then I’d sneak into Sully’s room across the hall.
I didn’t use to be so bold.
Last summer, it started with cracked doors.
Natalie would shut the light off, roll over in bed, and I’d turn to face the other way. Face the sliver of darkness that connected the two rooms.
Meanwhile, Sully would rearrange himself in his bed to rest his head on the foot of it, just so he could see across the hall, too.
We’d make faces at each other that we could barely see until one of us fell asleep.
Usually me.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
ellie
IWOKE TO THE feeling of being nuzzled.
The press of a nose, or perhaps lips, in my hair. Strong, thick arms caging me against a broad chest. Faint grumbling, the kind that you could feel more than hear. Warm breath flirting with my ear, tickling all my senses. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d felt this safe.
Too bad I couldn’t feel my right arm.
I tried shifting my body in hopes of eliciting some sort of sensation that might reassure me that I hadn’t lost a limb while sleeping, and the strong, phantom arms around me tightened.
“No,” a deep voice grunted, and I stilled.
Sawyer.
Who knows why I didn’t immediately make the connection that the warmth engulfing me was Sully, but now, reality rushed in. Last night came back to me in hot, steamy flashes: Sully’s hand wrapped around his erect length, his bright eyes devouring me, the blinding heat of my orgasm.
I could barely remember anything after that. Sully had gotten up, gone to the bathroom to clean himself, but then…everything was blurry.
I must have fallen asleep on the couch, which made sense.
What didn’t make sense was that Sully was still here. That Sully washoldingme.
With my eyes now open, the busy print of Anne London’s wallpaper stared back at me, decorated with shadows from the morning sun, which streamed past faded curtains. Out of the corner of my eye, I noted the TV, no longer playingThe Princess Diaries.
Glancing down the length of my body, I found that my legs were entangled with much longer ones. How the hell had Sully made it through an entire night on this couch when he was at least a foot too tall for it? I’d never know.
